Elaine has been reading Calvin and Hobbes, a rich source of inspiration.  While we were in California, she built her own duplicator which filled up most of the hallway.  This afternoon, she set up a box outside labelled "Great Ideas, 200 cents, 4 Sale."

I've read Calvin and Hobbes, too.  So, before engaging in the haggling process, I first asked:  "The great idea isn't 'Buy another great idea!,' right?"

Elaine agreed that it was not.

I offered 25 cents.

She agreed and told me my new, freshly purchased, great idea:

"Go outside sometime and look for as many things in your favorite color as you can find."

My favorite color is green.  I looked around and saw a lawn, several trees, a shrub, and a whole bunch of other plants in my favorite color. They weren't very hard to find.  Nonetheless, I said, "Maybe we'll go on a walk sometime and do that."

Elaine explained that her favorite color is blue, so she can always look up at the sky and find at least one thing in her favorite color.  Her favorite color changes a lot -- it used to be magenta.  Before that, it was "all the colors of the rainbow."  This month, it's blue.  And, today, the sky is indeed a beautiful blue.

Tomorrow I leave for Rainfurrest!  As usual, they're keeping me busy.  I'm doing ten panels over the four days.  If you want to find me, here's my schedule:

Childrens, Young Adult, and Adult Writing
Thursday, 3pm

Writing Exercises and Tools
Thursday, 9pm

Furry Characters in a Non-Furry Setting
Friday, 10am

Writing for Beginners (2)
Saturday, 9am 
 
A Reading and Q&A with Mary Lowd
Saturday, 11am

Comedy, Tragedy, Action, Romance
Saturday, 2pm

Fiction vs. Fan-Fiction
Saturday, 8pm

There's a Line... and You've Crossed It
Sunday, 9am 
 
The Mystical Magical Marvelous Magnificent Mary Sue!
Sunday, 10am

Collaboration in Writing
Sunday, 3pm

I should have some excellent co-panelists.  I'm particularly looking forward to doing a panel with Phil Geusz for the first time and my fellow Wordo, Garrett Marco, who was invaluable when I was editing Otters In Space 2.  It looks like a really strong writing track this year.

We caught Elaine drawing a window in purple crayon on the outside of one of our house's actual windows.  Her class had read "Harold and the Purple Crayon" earlier in the day, and she'd gotten a bit carried away, reenacting the book.  After a stern discussion of what we do and do not draw on with crayons, we sent Elaine back outside with windex and a rag to clean the window.

Moments later, Elaine popped her bead back in the door and asked, "Can I clean the other windows?"

About half an hour later, Elaine came back inside and asked Daniel, "How much money do you have?"  She wanted to be paid for her work, and she figured it would help to know how much her dad could afford to pay her.

After some negotiation, she settled for fifty cents.

Sentimentality is the difference between a stupid stick that your five-year-old stuck in the trunk of your car and a precious stick that you need to make space for in the trunk of your car because you're packing up stuff from your old room and you've been saving it since you were five years old.

On the walk to school today, Elaine told me about the time her class sang "Are You Sleeping?"  She told the teacher that there was another song called "Ugachucka" that sounded the same, and the teacher, who was apparently a little quicker than me, said that it was the same song in a different language.  At this point, I realized Elaine meant "Frere Jacques."  I corrected her pronunciation and told her it was in French.

Elaine agreed and told me that she'd informed her class it was "from an old Star Trek episode."

There are a lot more pants jokes in my house now that Elaine is old enough to giggle maniacally at them.  And she's not the one making them.

Daniel:  "What kind of ice cream would you like?  Vanilla, mint chip, chocolate moose tracks, mustard, or pants?"

Elaine:  "All three kinds."

Daniel:  "All right -- vanilla, mustard, and pants."

Elaine:  "Vanilla, mint chip, and chocolate moose tracks!"

Daniel:  "Chocolate moose pants?"

There was also discussion of making mustard ice cream in the blender and using Parmesan cheese in place of sprinkles.  Not to mention more references to pants.

A little song that Elaine was singing on her way to school today:

"Wonders and daisies,
"Wonders and flowers,
"Wonders in the whole wide world.

"I'm wondering about you daisy,
"I really am."